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The Effectiveness Of The International Criminal Court
The Effectiveness Of The International Criminal Court
Problems with the International Criminal Court
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There is a close relationship between human rights and criminal law. The scope of my paper will surround human rights and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in addition to human rights and international crimes. International criminal justice in this context speaks to those interested in prosecuting against the background of international human rights and humanitarian norms. The use of criminal law has many positive effects and pursues many goals that are worth considering. For example, deterrence, accountability and punishment are important principles that will be discussed in the context of human rights. Is the International Criminal Court an effective method to promote and protect human rights internationally? If so, why and how?
My thesis is that the International Criminal Court is an effective mechanism for the promotion and protection of human rights internationally because, by embodying the principles of criminal responsibility, it brings forth the notion of the individual as an agent in human rights and, by doing so, upholds the progressive shift that human rights conventions have developed. Criminal responsibility for human rights violations is important given that, by categorizing certain human rights violations as such, it allows for a progressive move internationally against those violations. International criminal law is an important tool that those advocating for human rights can use. The continued use of criminal law internationally, including the adoption of the ICC in 2002, will allow for a shift in legal norms resulting an increase in human rights. In this way, criminal responsibility allows for the education of peoples around the world by making an example of certain cases and displays the importance of ...
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...l Criminal Justice, 3 (2005): 608-620.
Lynn Sellers Bickley, “U.S. Resistance to the International Criminal Court: Is the Sword Mightier than the Law?” Emory International Law Review, 14 (2000): 214-276.
International Criminal Court. 2013. Accessed online on November 5, 2013: http://www.icc-cpi.int/EN_Menus/icc/Pages/default.aspx.
Payam Akhavan, “The Rise, and Fall, and Rise, of International Criminal Justice,” Journal of International Criminal Justice, 11:3 (2013): pp. 527-536.
Rebecca Young, “Internationally Recognized Human Rights Before the International Criminal Court,” International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 60 (2011):189-208.
Hans-Peter Gasser, “The Changing Relationship between International Criminal Law, Human Rights Law and Humanitarian Law,” The Legal Regime of the ICC: Essays in Honour of Prof. I.P. Blishchenko (2009) pp. 1111-1117.
Schattuck, John. “Overview of Human Right Practices, 1995,” Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. March 1996: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 10 Oct 2013.
The issue of human rights has arisen only in the post-cold war whereby it was addressed by an international institution that is the United Nation. In the United Nation’s preamble stated that human rights are given to all humans and that there is equality for everyone. There will not be any sovereign states to diminish its people from taking these rights. The globalization of capitalism after the Cold War makes the issue of human rights seems admirable as there were sufferings in other parts of the world. This is because it is perceived that the western states are the champion of democracy which therefore provides a perfect body to carry out human rights activities. Such human sufferings occur in a sovereign state humanitarian intervention led by the international institution will be carried out to end the menace.
...2009): 8-9. United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
...es’ constitutions, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, according to Wright, “pressed for the acceptance of its rulings in Argentine courts” (166). Not only international efforts, but also domestic efforts, to apply international jurisprudence to local courts were on the rise. For example, in 1995, CELS launched its “program for the application of international law to human right in local courts” based on the amendments to the Argentine constitution (Wright 166). Just as well, human rights lawyers pushed “courts to embrace the international principle that crimes against humanity cannot be amnestied” (Wright, 167). In sum, the International human rights lobby wanted each country to mold its human rights jurisprudence around the rulings of international human rights law, and domestic actors adopted the same goal.
Prof. Jeffrey A. Brauch, The Margin of Appreciation and the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights: Threat to the rule of law, Vol.11, Columbia Journal of European Law (2004-2005)
Human Rights in international law have been an immense issue for long period of time and continues to be. International human rights began to come to question, from the way soldiers and civilians were treated in times of war. International human rights involving war issues then extended to consist of other rights. When colonialism broadened it brought problems with minorities, which led to questioning human rights. Then in western regions in the world the increase debate about women’s statu...
The universal deceleration of human rights is a known and recognized worldwide. The general public sees it as a vital aspect of the legal system. Yet despite this, we still have various amounts of conflict, dehumanizing acts and large scale crime. This has confused mass amount of people, but the solution is simple, the articles listed within the declaration are not regarded highly and aren’t protected and utilised by the law. A particularly good example is article 11: innocent until proven guilty, as there are multiple incidents, both internationally and domestically that prove how little regard is given to upholding this human rights.
This essay considers that the violation of human rights can indeed be address by extraterritorial jurisdiction throw the human rights legal framework, mainly throw treaties as showed jurisprudence.
Wemmers (1996) highlights that an effective criminal justice system also protects human rights. Victims are gradually being seen as the notable possessors of such rights that lead to reviews in our domestic system and also by international bodies. The protection of said rights, such as in South Africa where less express definitions between ‘victim’ and ‘human’ rights are being made by policy m...
...th 2001). Roth argues that the concept of international jurisdiction is not a new idea but was exercised by the US government in the 1970 after an aircraft hijacking. Also the war crime courts established after the end of World War II exercised international jurisdiction. In fact the Geneva Convention states that is a person regardless of their nationality should be brought before the court of any state in which that person has committed grave breaches of law and convention. Roth states that the concept of international jurisdiction is not a new one but that only in recent years have states been willing to act on universal jurisdiction and go after criminals of the international community regardless of their stating or power within the international community. Roth believes in the ability and authority of international organizations and institutions (Roth 2001).
Members of The United Nations have a duty “to maintain international peace…in conformity with the principles of justice and international law.”[1] China, a core member of the United Nations since its formation in 1945, fails to comply with international human rights’ norms set forth by The United Nations Charter. This failure is noticeably prevalent in the practices of the Chinese Legal System. Its judicial proceedings in handling peaceful, political dissenters fail to provide the minimum protection of human rights guaranteed to all through international law. By examining accounts of Tibetans detained for such peaceful protests, this paper will set out to highlight the discrepancies between Chinese enforcement of international law in theory and in practice. Before this paper goes any further, the notion of international law must be explained. Providing a better understanding of international law will make easier the task of highlighting China’s struggles with enforcing such standards.
Tanzi, Attila., Problems of Enforcement of Decisions of the International Court of Justice and the Law of the United Nations, EJIL, 6, (1995) 539-572.
Magno, A., (2001) Human Rights in Times of Conflict: Humanitarian Intervention . Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, 2 (5). [online] Available from: [Accessed 2 March 2011]
Von Galhn and Taulbee. 2013. Law Among Nations. An Introduction to Public International Law. Pearson Education.